Hope for the Future
by Juu
Summary: A new evil has sprung up in Mirai Trunks' timeline. He goes back in time to get the others for help. My first and only Mirai Trunks fic, cause I don't like him much....enjoy!!


HOPE FOR THE FUTURE  
(Note: the beginning of this story is set in future Trunks' timeline.)  
  
Bulma sat at her computer terminal typing away. She yawned as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, then went back to work. Behind her, the door opened.   
  
"Hello son," said the woman without turning around to see who it was.   
  
"Mother...." The boy with long, lilac hair stood behind his mother. " Mother," he started again trying to find the right words. He was hesitant to tell her that yet another creature had invaded their planet.   
  
Bulma stopped tying and turned around. She gazed up into her son's eyes.  
"Trunks, if its about the gavatron then I already know."  
"Nani? You already know mother? How can you." Trunks asked, surprised.  
Bulma laughed, her blue eyes shining. " Silly boy. I've been tracking that thing since it came into our solar system."  
Trunks surpressed a sigh. "Mother, if you knew for so long, why didn't you tell me?"  
Again Bulma laughed. "I didn't want to upset you, dear. The apocalypse may in fact be at hand."  
Trunks cried out and grabbed his mother's frail hand. "No mother! I can stop it! I know that one day our planet will be safe again!"  
Bulma gave her son a wan smile. For many years he had fought bravely and lost many close friends. He was powerful, there was no doubt in Bulma's mind about that, but this monster was far more powerful than he. She knew Trunks knew this as well as she did. The gavatron was dangerous, not because of its physical strength, but because it had the ability to paralyze its victims.   
"Darling," she said finally in a soft voice. " You know that you cannot beat it alone. This may be for the best. We've suffered for so many years...." Bulma trailed off.   
Trunks couldn't believe what he was hearing. His mother, who had been so optimistic through the years, was now losing all hope. Bulma tried to look into her son's eyes, but he pulled his glance away.  
"No mother," he said with his eyes on the ground. " I'm going to train."  
Bulma sighed and turned back to her computer. "Whatever makes you happy, son."  
Trunks left the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He stood with his back against the door for a few moments. From inside the room, he could hear his mother sobbing. He stood there for a few more minutes listening to her and thinking of a solution, any solution. Then a determined look into his eyes and he walked over to the workshop where the time machine was kept. He climbed into it and punched in the coordinates. He was going to visit the past...  
"Whoa!!!" Gohan cried as the beam of energy sped towards him. He leapt out of the way and landed in a big clump of bushes about 3 feet away.   
"Ha! Got ya that time!" Goku walked over to his son and helped to pull him to his feet. Gohan laughed and pulled a twig out of his ebony hair.   
"You up for another go?" Goku asked, resuming his fighting stance.   
"You bet!" replied Gohan, grinning. The two began sparring again. Suddenly, Goku stopped. Gohan kept coming, not aware that something was wrong, and hit Goku square in the jaw.  
"Owwwww!" Goku whined, rubbing his sore mouth.  
Gohan laughed nervously. "Sorry. What's wrong, dad?"  
Goku stopped rubbing his jaw and gestured to a group of trees. " I feel someone's ki coming. Its familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on who it is."  
"Is it Piccolo?" asked Gohan eagerly.  
Goku was quiet for another moment, feeling out the power source. "No, it's strange but it almost feels like-"  
Goku stopped talking as a shadow appeared through the trees. It was tall and well built and as it grew closer, Goku and Gohan realized who it was.  
"Trunks!" the two cried in unison. Trunks gave a slight smile and raised his arm in greeting. "Hey guys."  
Trunks walked over to the two Saiyins.   
"So, what brings you here?" Goku asked, still grinning. Trunks smile faded and he nervously stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, if it's okay with you, I'd rather wait until everyone is together. Do you think you could help me gather everyone together?" The boy asked shyly.  
Goku nodded and said, "Sure, that's no prob. But are you okay. You look a bit stressed."  
Trunks looked away. "Well, um...things aren't going too well in my time. That's part of what I want to tell you guys about."  
Goku and Gohan glanced at each other, but Goku just shrugged and said, "Okay. Gohan, you go get Tien, Choutzu, and Piccolo; Trunks, you go find Yamcha; and I'll go get Krillin and Vegeta."  
"Um, if you don't mind...I'd like to go get Vegeta." Said Trunks, looking up.  
Goku shrugged. "Really? Okay, it's your choice. I'll get Yamcha too then."  
"Thanks, Goku. Let's meet here then, tomorrow." Trunks said as he took to the air. Gohan and Goku nodded, then flew off also, in different directions.   
Vegeta stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. Trunks glowered at his father. Neither one of them spoke.   
"So what brings you here this time, boy?" Vegeta asked finally. Trunks tried to surpress his anger. He had hoped that his father had changed since he had last seen him, but obviously he hadn't changed much.   
"Vegeta, I...I need your help." Trunks said. He couldn't remember the last time he had called Vegeta "father."   
"You need my help to do what?" Trunks sighed. He had wanted to tell everyone at once, but it was becoming apparent that Vegeta wasn't going to come with Trunks unless he told him.   
" In the future. I need your help in my time." Trunks brushed his hair out of his face. " After I went back to my time, I defeated the androids. That was a while ago, but know there is a new threat."  
"You're a strong boy. Why do you need my help?" Vegeta asked simply.   
" Father, mother is losing hope. She'll die soon if I can't shed some light on her life. I can't beat this thing by myself." Trunks paused for a moment, then let out the breath he had been holding. " What I'm going to ask you and the others to do is dangerous. Anything could go wrong, in my time or yours. Father, I want you and the others to come to my time."  
Vegeta was silent, to shocked to speak.   
"Please father. You have to understand that I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't an emergency. Please..." Trunks stopped talking. Vegeta stood silent and stolid.   
"I'll go back with you Trunks." He said finally. Trunks smiled. Maybe his father had changed. "But only because I want to test my abilities." Vegeta finished hurriedly. Trunks' anger flared and he turned away.  
"Fine. Then meet us in the woods near Goku's house tomorrow around sunrise." Without another word, Trunks flew off towards the horizon.   
The next day, as the sun was rising over the trees, the warriors gathered at the spot where Trunks' time machine was. Piccolo sat meditating as usual, Tien and Choutzu were talking, Gohan and Krillin were trying to keep Goku awake, and Vegeta was glaring at Yamcha for some reason. Trunks walked into the center of the group and addressed everyone.  
"Okay guys, I have to ask you something...." Trunks went on to explain the situation. Everyone listened quietly. " I'm not demanding that any of you do this, but I need your help badly. Anything could go wrong, and if you die in the future, you wouldn't be able to be wished back in this time. This is going to be a tough decision; I know alot of you have families now. But if you don't want to come with me please tell me know. Mother doesn't know I came here."  
The gang was silent for another minute. Then Krillin spoke up. "I'm in. My wife was one of the androids who terrorized your people and even though she's different in this time, I can't help but feel partly responsible."   
Trunks looked a bit taken aback. He didn't know that Krillin and 18 had gotten married. Everyone looked at Krillin and he blushed.  
"Um...right. I wouldn't mention that to my mother, though. What about the rest of you?" Trunks asked.  
"I'm in too," said Goku.  
"Me too," stated Gohan standing up.  
Tien and Choutzu lokked at each other, then Tien said, "We are as well."  
"Yeah, right on!" cried Yamcha.  
"No way I would miss this," stated Piccolo.  
Vegeta just grunted, but Trunks knew he was going so it didn't matter. Trunks smiled.  
"So you're all coming. Awesome." Still grinning, Trunks looked at the warriors he never had a chance to know. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind.  
"Hey, wait a sec! How are we all going to get there? My time machine can only hold one person!" Trunks was frantic.  
Gohan spoke up. "Um...well, I was thinking about that." He turned to face his father. "Dad? Do you think you could teleport all of us to the future?"  
Goku thought for a moment, tapping his finger thoughtfully to his chin. "Well, Gohan, I don't know. I mean, I've never teleported to another time before. I guess, if we all concentrate on Trunks' ki, I'd be able to do it. Can't hurt to try!" Goku's face broke out into a grin. Trunks looked slightly doubtful, but shrugged it off. Goku had always pulled through before.  
"All right." Said the warrior from the future. "I'll go ahead in my time machine. The rest of you follow." Trunks began to climb into the machine. He punched in the coordinates and began to pull down the top. Then he smiled. "See you in a few!" The time machine buzzed, then vanished, leaving the others to themselves. Goku faced the gang.  
"So, you guys ready?" Goku was answered by a chorus of "You Bet!"s.   
"All right," Goku put two fingers to his forehead. "Everyone grab on." Gohan walked over and slipped his hand into Goku's then took Krillin's. Choutzu hopped on to Tien's shoulder as Tien placed his hand on Goku's shoulder. Yamcha did the same. Piccolo grabbed Gohan's shoulder hesitantly. Vegeta glared at the group.  
"Well, are you coming or not?" asked Goku. Vegeta growled and dug his fingers into Krillin's shoulder.   
"Ow!" cried Krillin as he jerked his head around to glare at Vegeta.  
"Shut up!" came the reply.  
"Okay guys, we need to concentrate on Trunk's power." Goku said pointedly, ignoring the two angry warriors. Everyone grew quiet and focused. It worked. In a few short moments every one was standing in Bulma's workshop with Trunks standing before them.  
"Gosh, Vegeta you can let go now!" cried Krillin, pulling out of Vegeta's powerful grip. Trunks surpressed the laughter inside him.   
"Wow! It worked! I knew you'd come through, Goku!" Trunks watched as his friends looked around the room.  
"Are we really in your time, Trunks?" Gohan asked. Trunks nodded. "I know I should have told you this before, but...there was a chance that when you came through to my time you would die." Everyone froze and stared at him. "You see," he continued. "You all are dead in my time so...it might have brought you to my time as your other selves. But it didn't so its okay!"  
Everyone face faulted and fell over except for Piccolo and Vegeta.  
"Hey Trunks," asked Goku as he rose to his feet. "Where's Bulma?" Trunks smiled slightly. "She's in her room typing away at her computer. I checked on her a few minutes ago. I didn't tell her about you though. I sort of wanted to surprise her."  
"Oh okay." Goku put a finger to his mouth and said to the group, "Shhhhhh!" Everyone just looked at him. They hadn't been making any noise.   
"I'll take you to her now, if you want. Follow me." Trunks led the warriors to the room where his mother was working. She still sat there hunched over, her bluish gray hair falling into her face. Once everyone was in the room, Trunks stood in front of them and called softly, "Mother...?"  
Bulma finished whatever she was typing then slowly turned around. She had a smile on her face. "Yes, de-" Her smile quickly faded into an expression of shock. "Ve..geta?" She slowly rose from her chair and slowly walked over to Vegeta. She stared up at his face for a second, then flung her arms around him. "Oh my Vegeta..." she said softly. Vegeta was going to push her away, but a look from Trunks and the others stopped him.   
After a while Bulma pulled herself away and looked at the others. "Krillin? Yamcha? Gohan? All of you are...how....Goku?" Everyone smiled down at her.  
"But, you're all so young...I thought that...you were gone forever." Bulma stuttered.   
"Mother you said you had no more hope, so I brought them here." Said Trunks. Bulma faced her son. "What do you mean?"  
"I went to the past and brought them here to help beat the gavatron, Mother." Trunks replied. Bulma was speechless. Her face was first surprised, then happy, then angry.  
"do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!" she yelled. "anything could have happened!" Trunks leapt back. But then, Bulma's face softened. "Thank you Trunks." She whispered. She turned to the warriors again. "I've missed you guys so much...So much has happened in these past years."   
Bulma walked over to her long lost friends. Tears had begun to well up in her eyes and now they spilled over. She gazed at everyone, then walked over to Goku and hugged him long and hard. "Still working out I see." She teased.   
She then moved on to Gohan and hugged him. "How are things Gohan?" she asked when she pulled away. Gohan smiled.  
"Great! Mom's still making me study though." Bulma ruffled his hair and winked at him. She moved on to Krillin, who was blushing. "You, uh, don't have to hug me if you don't want to." He said sheepishly. Bulma looked at him sideways then laughed. "Oh come here silly!" she cried and hugged him as well. "So, you got a girlfriend yet, shorty?" She asked. Krillin blushed furiously. "Well, yeah, sort of." Bulma giggled, then continued, going around to everyone else, hugging them and asking questions, even to Piccolo, who was a bit taken aback when she asked, "So, how are you doing in the love department?" Everyone laughed. It was just like old times.  
The group sat in the room for hours, just talking and laughing. Trunks was overjoyed. He hadn't seen his mother so happy in a long time. Which is why he hated to bring up the gavatron. But he knew he had to sooner or later. Just as the sun began to set, Trunks cleared his throat and spoke up.  
"So, mother, what have you found out about the new monster? Anything new?" he asked half-heartedly. Bulma stared at him for a moment, as if she had forgotten. Then she blinked and said, "Oh. Well, I did find out one thing. It originated on the planet Norade. And you all ready know how it can paralyze people, so watch out for that. But with all you guys working together, I have no doubt that you can defeat it." Bulma's eyes shone and she laughed. "Maybe we can bring this planet back to life!" she cried pumping her fist in the air. Everyone exchanged glances. Trunks shrugged.  
"Well, I think we should find out where this thing is. Mother, do you think you can get a read out of its location?" Trunks said turning to face his mother. Bulma nodded. "Sure thing." She turned towards her computer. "Oh and Trunks?" she said facing the group. "You might want to go check on the other people in the city."  
Trunks nodded. "Right. Anyone want to come?"   
"I will!" piped up Gohan.  
"Me too!" said Goku.   
"I guess I'll go too," said Krillin softly.  
"Allrighty. Anyone else?" Trunks said glancing around the room. The others shook their heads. They wanted to stay and talk to Bulma about the gavatron some more. Trunks slung his sword onto his back and him, Goku, Gohan, and, Krillin walked out of the Capsule Corporation.  
"My gosh," muttered Gohan as he looked around at the mass of destroyed buildings. Trunks looked at the ground. "I know. We still haven't been able to repair the damage caused by the androids and cell. I don't know where the people are so we should split up and go look for them." The others nodded.  
"It's not a good idea to go alone," Trunks went on. "So Gohan, why don't you go with Krillin and Goku, you come with me." The others agreed and started off in different directions.  
"Oh and guys!" trunks called to Krillin and Gohan. "Don't go too far, and if you see anything unusual, give a shout!"  
"Gotcha!" Krillin called back. He and Gohan started towards a building that was still standing.   
"Hello!" Gohan called as the two warriors entered the building. There was no answer. Gohan tried again.   
"Wh..who's there?" came a small voice from the back of the room. Gohan looked at Krillin, who just shrugged.  
"We're friends." Gohan replied. Slowly, four people stepped out from among the shadows, a man and a woman, a young boy of about seven, and a small girl, who was maybe four or five. Their clothes were in tatters and their faces were dirty. The little girl clung to her mother's leg while the boy stepped up near his father.   
"Is everything okay in here?" The oldest man slowly nodded. His glance kept shifting warily from Gohan to Krillin.   
"Well, don't worry, we're hear to help. We have to go now, but if you need help, just call us. We're friends of Trunks." That seemed to relax the family a little bit. The man stepped forward. "I'm Natako. This is my wife Larla, my son Kakaru, and my daughter Aontu." He bowed towards Krillin and Gohan, who returned the gesture.  
"I'm Gohan," said Gohan. "And this is my friend Krillin. You don't happen to know where the other people are, do you?" Natako shook his head. "No. I'm sorry."  
"No problem. Well, be careful." Natanko nodded and Krillin and Gohan left the room.  
Meanwhile...  
CRASH!!!!  
"Sorry," said Goku, who had just scared the daylights out of Trunks by knocking a garbage can over. Trunks laughed softly. Goku hadn't changed much. "Come on!" Trunks called over his shoulder. "There's a small group of people over this way!  
"Gohan, I think this is just a dead end." Krillin called to his friend who was currently walking down a narrow alleyway. Gohan kept going. "You can never be too careful." He called back. But as he kept going, he came face to face with a large pile of debry, blocking him from going any farther. "Maybe you're righ-" Gohan stopped talking as he felt something under his foot. He glanced down and saw fresh blood covering the ground. "KRILLIN!!!" he shouted. Hearing his friends panicked voice, Krillin came running. "What?" Gohan merely pointed at the ground. Krillin leapt back, grabbing Gohan." Holy cripes!"   
"What happened? This must have just happened." Gohan said thoughtfully.  
"You're right." Replied Krillin." And whatever did this can't be too far awa-Ouch!" Gohan turned away from the gruesome sight. Krillin was standing holding his arm. Gohan could see tiny drops of crimson creeping out from Krillin's fingers.   
"Krillin, what happened?" Gohan asked, slightly confused. Krillin looked surprised. "I'm not sure. I must have brushed up against something. Listen Gohan, we'd better go back and tell the others about this."  
Gohan nodded shakily. "Right."  
Trunks and Goku stepped out of the tent they had just been in. "Well, that takes care of this side." He said to Goku.   
"We should go check and see how Krillin and Gohan are doing." Goku said back. The two of them started back. They neared the Capsule Corporation just in time to see Krillin and Gohan come out of an alleyway. Gohan saw them and began waving his hands in the air. Goku and Trunks walked over to the younger Saiyin.  
"What's up Gohan?" Goku inquired.   
"Dad! At the end of the alley there's a huge puddle of blood. We must have gotten there right after it happened because the blood was still fresh, but there was no one around." Gohan said all in one breath.   
"Whoa! Calm down Gohan!" Goku said, placing his hands on Gohan's shoulders. "Let's talk about this inside."  
Goku glanced at Krillin who was looking behind him at the alleyway. "What happened to you?" Goku asked, gesturing to Krillin's bleeding arm.  
"Oh. I'm not sure. I think I bumped into something." Krillin replied.   
"Don't worry about it. My mom can take care of that." Said Trunks. "Anyway, I think Goku's right. We should go tell the others." He turned and walked towards the building. The others followed.  
Vegeta stifled a yawn and glanced around the room. Everyone else (except Piccolo) was gathered around Bulma, watching as she looked up information on the gavatron.  
Suddenly, the door opened and Trunks, Krillin, Gohan, and Goku. Vegeta noticed that Krillin was holding his arm. When the door opened, everyone had turned around to see who it was. Bulma gasped. Taking charge, she started shooting directions off left and right. "Trunks, get my first aid kit. Goku, Gohan? You tell me what happened. Krillin, you get your butt over here so I can bandage that." Kriilin walked over to where Bulma was, very red in the face.   
"Sit." She commanded, pointing to the swiveling chair. Krillin sat. Trunks walked in with the first aid kit and handed it to Bulma. Bulma peered at the cut.  
"Hmmm," she hummed, thinking to herself. "It's not too big, but its deep." She turned and grabbed some antiseptic and gauze out of the kit and smiled. "Don't worry Krillin, we'll have you fixed in a jiffy! Now, why don't you guys tell me about what happened?" Bulma set to work bandaging Krillin's arm, while Gohan told the whole story about what had taken place in the alley.   
"Wow," stated Yamcha when Gohan was finished.  
"And you're sure that there was no one down there?" Piccolo asked.  
Gohan gave a quick nod. "There was no one down there except Krillin and me. And I didn't sense any power levels." Piccolo returned to his meditation, as if to think about the strange events.  
"All done!" cried Bulma. Krillin hopped out of the chair and sat by Gohan and Goku.   
Now Trunks spoke up." I don't think it was the gavatron. It's supposed to be enormous. I think you would have seen it."  
"You've got that right," spoke up Bulma. She pointed to the computer screen. "Look. I finally got a visual."  
On the screen was a huge monster. It looked sort of like a centaur, but the upper body was strange looking. It was built like a human, but was a strange, pasty-gray color. Its eyes slated upward and were a pale orange. None the less, it didn't look very friendly. Everyone stood gawking.  
"I also think I know why it came here. According to this, it comes to vulnerable planets, cleans out everything, then fills the planet with its own kind." Said Bulma matter-of-factly.   
"Like the sayins?" asked Tien?  
"Sort of. These things are too stupid to realize what they're doing. They're kind of like a big, dumb, dangerous animal." Was Bulma's reply. "What else to you have on this thing?"   
"Not much. I'm still downloading some info, though. Anyway, its getting dark. You'd guys better get some rest. I'll get you some blankets. "  
Trunks fell to his knees. The bodies of his fallen comrades littered the ground. Above him, someone was laughing...."  
Trunks shot up in his bed in a cold sweat. Panting, he looked around the room. Everyone still lay asleep. They were fine. It was late, even Bulma had gone to bed. Trunks settled himself back in his bed and shut his eyes, but sleep refused to come.   
Sighing, Trunks sat up again. "You should try to go back to sleep." A voice came from the other side of the room. Trunks turned his head in the direction it had come from. It was Piccolo. "We have a long day ahead of us."  
Trunks gave the Namek a confused look. "I have a bad feeling about this." Trunks said. "Maybe you guys should go back."  
Piccolo smirked. "We came here to help you fight this thing and that's what we're going to do. Don't worry about us. You just concentrate on kicking that monster's tail."  
Trunks smiled. Then, feeling better, he laid back down and closed his eyes. This time sleep came easily.  
"Trunks! Trunks wake up!" Trunks slowly opened his eyes. Gohan was looking over him with a distressed look on his face. Trunks sat up immediately. "What's wrong?"  
"There's something coming. I can feel it. Dad can too." Gohan exclaimed. Goku was all ready waking up the others. Vegeta stood by the window with his arms crossed. Piccolo was standing in the corner. Krillin was trying to wake up Yamcha (but wasn't having much luck).   
Suddenly, from outside, there was a tremendous bang, then screams.  
"Oh no! Its attacking one of the villages!" cried Goku. "We've got to go stop it! Yamcha, Choutzu, you wake up Bulma and try to get as much information about this thing as you can. The rest of you, come with me!" The warriors ran out of the building and flew off towards the gavatron. Yamcha looked at Choutzu and said, "How come, we're always the ones stuck with these jobs?"  
The other warriors sped towards the gavatron. They could see it from a distance. People were running every which way to get away from the horrific beast. The monster kept repeating the same pattern: It would follow someone, shoot something out of its hand, the person would freeze up, paralyzed, then the monster slashed at them. The strange thing was, the monster seemed to go after specific people, like it knew who it was going to kill before hand.   
"Okay guys," Goku called to the others. "Let's go down. And just remember to watch out from its paralyzing attack." The warriors landed on the charred ground. They formed a line and began to power up. "Ready...NOW!!" The warriors fired. The different beams flew almost side by side and collided with the target head on. The gavatron howled and turned on the warriors. It's orange eyes flashed as it thundered towards them. "Look out!" cried Trunks. The gavatron swung its arm at the group, causing the boys to scatter to different sides. Again the monster howled as it reared back to attack again...  
Meanwhile...  
Bulma's fingers flew over the keyboard. Yamcha and Choutzu watched eagerly. "Come, on, come on...yes! I got some info!" Yamcha and Choutzu quickly scanned the report on the gavatron.  
The gavatron  
A scavenger species, this creature moves through space to find suitable homes for its offspring. If the planet they desire is inhabited, the gavatron merely eliminates the creatures in the planet. Its attack strategy, though a bit strange, is genius. Before attack, the monster marks each of his victims by cutting a mark on the person's arm or leg. When the person comes in contact with the gavatron, the wound burns and omits a glow only visible by the gavatron's heat sensitive eyes. Usually, the monster attacks those with something similar, such as blood type. This being is considered highly dangerous as the venom in its fingernails can paralyze instantly. It's also very intelligent.  
"Uh oh" Yamcha said as he finished reading. " Didn't Krillin..."  
Bulma nodded. "Yamcha, does any of you have the same blood type as Krillin?"  
Yamcha shrugged. "I'm not sure. Tien might." Bulma swore under her breath. "You have to go warn them. It might go after Goku and Vegeta next, since they're both Sayins."  
Yamcha nodded. "Choutzu? No offense, but I think you should stay here."  
"Don't worry, I'm not protesting." Replied Choutzu. Yamcha started out the door.   
"Yamcha, be careful!" called Bulma.  
"I will!"  
The gavatron wheeled around on Vegeta who had just fired an enormous ki blast at the monster. It knocked the Saiyin to the ground and walked away from him. Krillin and Gohan ran towards the beast and fired at it. It hit the gavatron but the darn thing kept coming. It slapped Gohan away, causing blood to slide down the side of his face, and began backing Krillin into a wall. Gohan picked himself up and cried, "Masenko!" The powerful attack hit its desired target. One of the gavatron's legs began to bleed, but the monster ignored it. Seeing his friend was in danger, Goku charged at the gavatron. He powered up to Super Sayin and slammed his fist into the monster's side. The gavatron stumbled, but knocked Goku back as well. Meanwhile, Krillin was trying to blast the beast as well, but he also wasn't having much luck.  
"What's going on?" asked Gohan. "Why is it ignoring everyone else? Why is it only going after Krillin?"  
The gavatron continued to back Krillin up, until his back was pressed against the wall. Krillin looked around then began to power up.   
"Kaaaa-meeee- haaaa-meeee-" but before Krillin could finish, the gavatron swung his arm and knocked the earthling to the ground. The monster swung down again, this time its nails out stretched, but at the last second Krillin leapt up out of the way and kicked the gavatron right in the head. It swayed unsteadily on its massive legs, but didn't fall over.   
"Oh, come on!" muttered Krillin. He used the short period of time that the monster lost its balance to quickly get away from it. "Ow!" Krillin cried grabbing at his bandaged cut. It had started burning when the gavatron had hit him and was now getting worse.   
Suddenly Gohan cried, "There's Yamcha!" Everyone flew up to where Yamcha was, leaving the angry creature below them. "Well, that's one advantage. It can't fly." Goku said to himself. He turned to look at Yamcha. Yamcha was breathing pretty hard, and Goku guessed he had flown as fast as he could. "What's up Yamcha?"  
"Goku! Bulma found some important information, so I came as fast as I could." Yamcha said, catching his breath. Vegeta began to grow impatient.  
"Well, what's so important?" Vegeta snapped. Yamcha ignored him.  
"Guys, this thing is smarter than we thought. It decides who its victims are before it actually attacks them." Yamcha turned so he was facing Krillin, who was still holding his arm and gazing down at the furious beast. "Krillin-" Yamcha was cut off as the gavatron sent something at the group. Something sharp hit Yamcha, and another hit Gohan. The two warriors fell to the ground, unable to move. The rest of the startled group went after them. Once on the ground, Goku ran over to Gohan, Krillin went to check on Yamcha, and the others began attacking the gavatron full force. Krillin bent down to Yamcha who was struggling to move. "Don't worry, you'll be all right." Yamcha was looking over Krillin's shoulder and looked like he was trying to say something.   
"Krillin behind you!" shouted Piccolo, but his warning came to late. All at once, Krillin felt a searing pain on his back and the burning in his arm flared up again. The gavatron had swiped its massive arm downwards, cutting the earth-warrior badly and ripping the back of his uniform to shreds.   
Quickly, Goku rushed to his friend's aid. Trunks watched as Goku set about blasting the oppressing alien. He noticed that the gavatron's eyes seemed to be radiating a strange glow. As its eyes flashed, a mass of sticky black liquid flew out of the monster's mouth. It smacked Goku, who became entangled in the mess.   
Meanwhile, Krillin forced himself to his feet and stood before the gavatron. Piccolo stayed by Gohan's side, as if afraid to leave him. Vegeta, however, decided to take some action. He swiftly blinked into Super Sayin mode and rushed at Krillin. He reached the warrior quickly and hit him, sending him out of the path of the gavatron's stampeding path. At the same time Goku freed himself.  
The angry monster spun on Vegeta and Krillin, who was beginning to feel drowsy from loosing so much blood. He shook it off, however, and resumed a fighting stance once more.  
"Honestly, doesn't this thing ever get tired." Vegeta muttered, irritated. Trunks decided that now was a time for action. He unsheathed his massive blade and began downwards, snapping into Super Sayin form. All he needed was one good clean shot at the monster's heart, but it was thrashing around so violently that this seemed an almost impossible feat. Goku was firing at the monster from behind, as were Krillin and Vegeta from the front. Krillin winced with every shot. He was pushing himself too far, Trunks knew; he couldn't do it for much longer.  
Finally, the gavatron seemed to get annoyed with not being able to catch his prey and turned his assault on Gohan and Piccolo. Piccolo stood protectively in front of the younger warrior. The gavatron grew angry and hit Piccolo hard, sending him careening into a nearby building where he landed, unconscious.  
"No! Stay away from my son!" Goku cried as the gavatron moved closer to Gohan, who was still unable to move. Trunks still watched, darting back and forth, waiting for the right time to attack. Tien, who had moved Yamcha away from the battlefield, suddenly, swept down and snatched up Gohan.   
"Thanks Tien!" Goku called out as Tien flew Gohan to safety. Out of the corner of his eyes, Trunks saw Krillin stagger. Blood was dripping down his back and down his legs. He looked ready to lose it at any given moment. Trunks was ready to go down there and help him, since Vegeta obviously wasn't going to, but at that exact moment Trunks saw his opportunity. The gavatron was busy swiping at Goku, who kept teleporting back and forth around the creature.   
"It's now or never," Trunks thought. He dove towards the ground, the tip of his blade aimed at the gavatron's chest. Then he changed his mind, remembering how all of their ki blasts hadn't done any damage. It was likely that this thing's heart was located somewhere else. So, instead, as Trunks approached the evil being, he swung his blade in a semi-circle, severing the gavatron's head from its body. The monster fell with an enormous thud, and hit the ground dead. Trunks landed as well, and sheathed his sword.   
Goku walked over to Trunks as they both changed back to normal. "Way to go!" said Goku approvingly. Trunks nodded. "We'd better see about the others. I think Krillin needs help."   
Goku seemed almost startled. "Oh, right!" The two walked over to Krillin and Vegeta. Vegeta looked reproachful and Krillin looked ready to pass out. Goku half smiled at Krillin. "Ready to go home?" Goku asked. "Hm." Was the reply.   
"Goku," said Trunks. "You'd better take him back to my mother's right away. I'm not sure how deep those cuts are."   
Goku's expression grew serious. He nodded then walked over to Krillin. "Come on, let's go." He said as he slung Krillin over his back. He turned, gave a thumbs up sign, then took off into the air. As Trunks watched as they flew out of sight, he heard a noise over a few yards from where he was standing. Piccolo was waking up as well.  
Vegeta turned towards his son. He paused, and, standing with his arms crossed, looked Trunks up and down. He then gave a quick nod, then took of in the same direction as Goku. Trunks beamed. He knew that, coming from Vegeta, that quick nod was the highest sign of praise.   
Piccolo walked over and gazed at the dead gavatron. Then he approached Trunks. "So," he asked somewhat hesitantly. "Where the others?"   
"Tien took Yamcha and Gohan to safety, Goku took Krillin back to my mother's, and fa-...Vegeta left also." Trunks replied. Piccolo began to walk away.  
"Then I say we join them..."  
  
"Now this might hurt a bit.." Bulma stuck Yamcha with a needle that contained the antidote for the paralyzing venom. She had already given it to Gohan and he was now sitting up, gazing around the room.  
"There. It should take effect in a few minutes." Bulma said. She then glanced over at Tien, who was sitting in a chair with a bandage around his upper arm. "Sorry I had to take so much blood. It's a good thing you have the same blood type as Krillin; he would have died without the transfusion." Tien shrugged. Krillin was lying on Bulma's bed, still unconscious, as he had finally lost his will on the way to Bulma's. His shirt had been removed; long white bandages encircled his chest.   
"He should wake up soon," the blue haired woman said with a trace of remorse in her voice. "Then I think it would be best if you returned to your time."   
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Bulma smiled softly. "You had too many close calls here. You've all ready given the people here great hope. But as much as I want you to stay, I know that it's not right."  
Everyone fell silent. Trunks knew his mother was right, but didn't want to admit it. Suddenly, a noise came from Krillin. He was talking in his sleep.  
"18..." he said quietly. Everyone froze and looked at Bulma, but she didn't seem to have heard him. She was sitting in her chair with a faraway look in her eyes. She didn't even seem to notice the others were looking at her.  
Krillin stirred and again and this time, his eyes slowly opened. He shot up in the bed and gasped, still not sure where he was. Bulma finally lost the look in her eyes and turned to Krillin.  
"Well, its about time! How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.   
Krillin looked around, still dazed. "Okay, I guess." He paused for a second. "What exactly happened, here?"  
Everyone glanced at Trunks who blushed. Bulma laughed. "Yamcha will explain everything once you get home. It's a long story." Bulma stopped laughing and was quiet again. The faraway look returned to her eyes.   
"I...I just want to thank all of you. For coming here. I've missed you all so much....and I wish you could stay, but I know you've got to return to your other lives." The blue haired woman blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes. Then she turned to Goku.  
"Its time," she said simply. Goku nodded slowly. Everyone else looked at the ground. The room was quiet for a moment.   
"Oh, now, none of that!" Bulma cried suddenly. Everyone looked up at her and smiled. Just like when they had first arrived in the past, Bulma hugged each of them. When she had finished, and all the good-bye's were said, the warriors gathered around Goku once again. Krillin winced as he saw Vegeta coming towards him again, but Vegeta just rested his hand on Krillin's shoulder.   
"Well, guys who should we concentrate on?" Goku asked once everyone was settled.   
"Mom," Gohan said at once. Goku laughed.  
"Okay then. You got that guys?" Goku asked the others. They nodded. Goku, once again, touched two fingers to his forehead. Bulma and Trunks waved as the group flickered and disappeared.   
"Well, son," Bulma said once they had gone. "We'll have to decide what your punishment is going to be for using the time machine without my permission."  
Trunks face-faulted and fell over. Bulma laughed. Trunks smiled. Maybe she still had hope after all.  
"Thanks guys," Trunks thought to himself.  
THE END  



End file.
